A drive by any other route
by chalaess
Summary: Stephanie decides that the normal route to the office is boring, so she goes a different route. And promptly gets lost. Oneshot Babefic.


Disclaimer: I own nothing. And my sister stole my watch. I don't know where it is. grr

So…basically, this is a really weird idea that I got when my friend said we should take a different route through the school to get to our classes because the normal route was boring. So, just as a warning, this is sort of a weird plot line…and some people may or may not be ooc. Depending on how awesome I am (which isn't very much. So they may very well be ooc). And the title is also weird, mainly because I couldn't think of a good one.

A drive by any other route still gets Stephanie lost

For some strange reason, I decided not to go my normal route to the office today. The normal one was boring. And so, as I exited my apartment building's parking lot, I turned right instead of left. The plan was that my next turn would then be a left instead of a right. I reached a fork in the road, but not the kind I wanted. The only options were straight or right. Figuring that going right would just take me further from the office, I kept going straight. Eventually I'd reach the office, right? After all, I'd been born in Trenton and raised here. I couldn't get lost in my own city, could I?

Clearly, I could, because the road turned right once again, with no other options. Unless I wanted to hit a building, I couldn't go straight or turn left. Sighing, and having decided that this wasn't my best plan ever, I kept going.

The next fork I reached, I stopped and looked at it for a while. I could go straight, left, or right. I couldn't really remember which way I needed to go in order to get to the office, but I was pretty sure that going left would help. After all, I'd originally wanted to go left, right? If my mental map was correct (of course, look where it had gotten me so far), I should get back to the office if I turned left. So, signaling, I went left.

Five minutes later, I knew I wasn't in the right spot. I was passing huge houses. The kind of house owned by the very rich, with huge, perfect lawns, huge houses, and shiny cars outside, in the driveway.

I stopped in front of a house with a car in front of it. The car was actually a black truck that looked a lot like Ranger's, so I figured that was a good sign. Surely someone who owned the same kind of vehicle as Ranger couldn't be a bad guy. Pulling up to the curb, I turned the car off and got out, looking at the house. I sighed and then walked along the brick path to the house.

Going up the stairs, I rang the doorbell. I waited about thirty seconds and then knocked as loud as I could. I was just about to ring the doorbell again, about a minute later, when I heard movement. Someone was on the other side of the door.

And, I decided, after another fifteen seconds, clearly not planning on opening it. I rolled my eyes, speaking through the door. "Look, I know you're there! I don't need much time, just directions to my offi—"

The door swung open and I stared. Which was understandable. If the shock of seeing Ranger there (because that's who opened the door), wasn't enough, the sight of him alone would have been enough to make any woman stop and stare. He was wearing sweatpants (I'll give you three guesses as to what color they were) and nothing else. He'd clearly just taken a shower, because his hair was wet and down, falling around his shoulders.

"Babe." When he spoke, I dragged my eyes away from his naked chest (yum) and looked at his face.

"What are you doing here?" I probably could have figured it out if I'd thought about it, but at the moment, I wasn't really thinking. Half-naked Ranger early in the morning had short-circuited my brain.

The corners of his mouth lifted. "Babe, this is the Batcave. What are _you_ doing here?"

The Batcave? I'd found the Batcave on my own? This wasn't what I was expecting, definitely. I'd expected some kind of top secret underground thing with a metal shop. This didn't look top secret, underground, _or_ like it had a metal shop anywhere near by. Ranger looked behind me, causing me to look as well. A lot of his neighbors had come out of their houses and were looking at me and Ranger. I noticed that a large number of the neighbors who'd come out were female. Frankly, if half-naked Ranger stepped out of his house and I was within viewing distance, I'd come out of my house too. The men, I suppose, were there because someone who clearly didn't belong in this neighborhood had just been yelling at someone's door. Ranger stepped back, indicating that I should enter the Batcave.

I hesitated a moment, then stepped in. Ranger closed the door behind me and repeated his question. "So, what are you doing here? Couldn't stay away from me any longer?"

I don't know why, I'm going to blame it on the earliness again, but that question just infuriated me and I went into full 'crazy rant' mode. "For your information, I got lost. I don't know why you feel the need to say stupid stuff, but obviously, you do. So, there you go! You've said your stupid thing for the month, and you aren't allowed to say any more stupid stuff. I had no idea where you lived, so it's not like I hunted you down. I just took a bunch of wrong turns and, having no idea how to get back to the office, decided to ask for directions. Since you're a man, I'm sure it's a foreign concept to you, but generally people ask for directions when they are lost and they ask someone random. Asking for directions is not an act of trying to hunt someone down." I stopped, glaring at him.

He was quiet for a moment, clearly stunned by my outburst. Finally, he just said, "Babe."

Not the right thing to say. I glared at him. "And that's the other thing! Why do you always say that? Sometimes, it's fine. But using it as an evasive maneuver to excuse yourself from intelligent conversation falls under the 'stupid things' category, and you've already said one stupid thing for today, as I said. I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that." What was up with me today? I really had no clue, but for some reason, things that normally would just seem like a very Rangeresque thing to say were, today, making me annoyed.

Ranger returned to my first rant. "I personally don't think I say many stupid things." I rolled my eyes. "Fine, what's another example?"

"There are tons. 'I love you, in my own way', for one. Either say you love me or don't, but not that stupid halfway thing." Crap. Had I just actually said that?

He raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Babe, I love you. Anything else you want me to change?"

"Yes, lots of things. For examp—" What he'd said sunk in. "What?" I stared at him.

"I love you. What else have I said that you thought was stupid? I'd be happy to change it." Despite the casual tone, I could tell he was slightly tense. And I knew what he was hoping for.

And I was only too happy to comply. I beamed. "I love you, Ranger."

He smiled and the tension left him. He pulled me to him and kissed me. I guess taking a different route to work was a good plan after all.

A/N: Pretty sucky ending. Sorry. Anyway, as I said, it was just a totally random idea, and I hope you liked it. :)


End file.
